The highest bidder takes it all: The World Bank’s new scheme to privatise land in the global south
    World Bank is launching an unprecedented attack on the commons by pushing privatisation of customary and public land and its sale by auction to the highest bidder. The land indicator’s Enabling the Business of Agriculture rankings prescribes policy reforms to ease access to land for agribusiness.
    • Brettonwoods Project
    • 04 April 2019
    139 groups from 26 countries mark ‘Day of the Landless’
    In a strong show of support to rural communities asserting their right to land, 139 organizations from 26 countries across Asia Pacific, Africa, Latin America, North America and Europe issued a joint statement to mark the Day of the Landless last 29 March with several solidarity actions were also held on the same day.
    • PAN AP
    • 29 Mar 2019
    Day of the Landless 2019: Reclaim our lands, reclaim our future!
    29 March is Day of the Landless, it marks the founding anniversary of Asian Peasant Coalition and the launching of No Land, No Life! campaign. 126 organizations from 24 countries are issuing the following statement to commemorate the struggle of rural communities around the world for land and resources.
    • PAN AP
    • 29 Mar 2019
    After defaulting on loans, Kilombero Plantation Ltd goes up for sale
    Kilombero Plantation Ltd, the Tanzanian subsidiary of Guernsey-registered Agrica Ltd. and “best in class” player in the field of socially responsible ag investments in Africa, is up for sale after defaulting on loans from several financial institutions.
    • Oakland Institute
    • 27 Mar 2019
    Brazil’s key deforestation drivers: Pasture, cropland, land speculation
    Brazilian deforestation is most highly driven by land speculation, whereby land speculators deforest an area, possibly selling off the timber, then convert the land to pasture, and then again quickly sell the land to a soy producer at a much increased price.
    • Mongabay
    • 20 Mar 2019
    CBN vows to make Nigeria world’s third palm oil producer
    The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria says that all the states in the South-South and South-East regions have agreed to provide at least 100,000 ha for investors in oil palm plantations.
    • The National
    • 18 Mar 2019
    Letter to Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone
    ESCR-Net has written to President Bio about the human rights violations against members of the Malen Affected Landowners and Users Association in connection with industrial scale palm oil operations by Société Financière des caoutchoucs (Socfin Group).
    • ESCR-Net
    • 04 Mar 2019
    Law and political economy of the global resource squeeze: can action rise to the challenge?
    Today, certain legal arrangements are facilitating unsustainable resource extraction and shifting resource control in favour of commercial interests.
    • IIED
    • 04 Mar 2019
    Foreign farmland investors in Brazil linked to 423,000 hectares of deforestation
    Harvard University, the US pension fund manager TIAA/Nuveen and Japan's Mitsui are among the foreign companies buying up Brazilian farmlands that are responsible for over 420,000 ha of deforestation in the Cerrado since 2000.
    • CRR
    • 18 December 2018
    The secret deal to destroy paradise
    In December 2012, on the sidelines of Islamic business forum in Malaysia, a man made a bold claim said his company, Menara Group held the rights to 4,000 square kilometres of rainforest for oil palm plantations in Indonesia. The basis of his claim was Tanah Merah project in Boven Digoel, Papua.
    • The Gecko Project
    • 28 November 2018
    Tax havens and Brazilian Amazon deforestation linked: study
    Between 2000-2011, 68% of all investigated foreign capital to 9 top companies in soy and beef sectors in the Brazilian Amazon was transferred through tax havens. Soy and beef production cause major Amazon deforestation.
    • Mongabay
    • 21 November 2018
    Liberia: Lawmaker eyes mechanised farming in Grand Bassa County
    The Wee Statutory District Representative, Vicent Willie, told reporters that he and his partners from India and China have concluded talks to engage into large scale farming.
    • FrontPageAfrica
    • 19 November 2018
    When land becomes a global financial asset: The MATOPIBA case in Brazil
    How can it be that finance centers in New York or Stockholm exercise control over lands in Northeastern Brazil?
    • GNRFN
    • 07 November 2018
    Jaguar scheme opts for forestry and farmland
    According to its latest investment report, the Jaguar Pension Plan placed $16.5m in an agriculture fund managed by Boston-based Folium Capital
    • Pensions Expert
    • 04 November 2018
    Quick take: Why is African agribusiness luring GCC investors?
    Investors from the Middle East have been tempted by African agribusiness for years, and a report on Monday by real estate consultancy Knight Frank suggests demand is growing.
    • The National
    • 31 October 2018
    How Harvard’s investments exacerbate global land and water conflicts
    The elite university has quietly become one of the largest owners of farmland in the world, according to a new report by GRAIN, an international nonprofit supporting small farmers, and Brazil-based Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos
    • Grist
    • 09 October 2018
    Oil palm in Peru: Destruction advancing upon the Amazon
    Even though Peru is not a major player in the global palm oil market, according to some statistics, it is the country where this crop is expanding the fastest.
    • WRM
    • 26 September 2018
    Harvard purchases 741,000 acres and creates conflict with local communities
    The US university, through its endowment fund, maintains a business chain with Brazilian companies and its subsidiaries to circumvent Brazilian law, according to a report.
    • Brasil de Fato
    • 13 September 2018
    Harvard's billion-dollar farmland fiasco
    One of the world's major buyers of farmland is under fire for their involvement in land conflicts, environmental destruction and risky investments. A new report by GRAIN and Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos presents, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of Harvard University's controversial investments in global farmland.
    • GRAIN and Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos
    • 06 September 2018
    Is Guyana ready for mega-farms and genetically modified seeds?
    In June 2018, Guyana’s Ministry of Agriculture unveiled an agreement with the Brazilian Agricultural Machinery and Research Institute that gives a green light to Brazilian investors lobbying for large tracts of lands in the Rupununi savannahs.
    • Stabroek
    • 03 September 2018
    Businessman turned philanthropist accused of murders and land theft in Brazil's Northeast
    Portrait of a Brazilian businessman accused of violent land grabbing whose clients include Cargill, Bunge and the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA).
    • Brasil Reporter
    • 02 September 2018
    New report pushes back against global land rush
    After three years of intensive research, CPR-Namati launch resource for frontline practitioners working with communities affected by land use change.
    • Namati
    • 31 August 2018
    New report pushes back against global land rush
    After three years of intensive research, Namati have launched Midcourse Manoeuvers: Community Strategies and Remedies for Natural Resource Conflicts in India, Indonesia, and Myanmar, a groundbreaking resource for frontline practitioners working with communities affected by land use change.
    • Namati
    • 30 August 2018
    Trade conflict is a lose-lose game
    Serious trade tension between two key players in global agricultural trade, China and US could bring major lose-lose outcomes for both parties and lead to a new wave of land grabs.
    • China Daily
    • 14 August 2018
    Organisations back Kuoy land claims
    Two organisations expressed concern over land in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia after Hengfu, sugar company based in China, in 2011 and 2016 granted Economic Land Concessions of more than 42,000 hecatres by the Cambodian government.
    • Khmer Times
    • 10 August 2018
    Tanzania's indigenous communities racing to secure land eyed by investors
    Tanzania has attracted huge interest as a destination for large-scale agricultural investment due to sufficient land and cheap labour. As traditional laws that once protected village land weaken, indigenous communities and farmers have repeatedly lost chunks of land facilitated by foreign investors.
    • InDepth News
    • 05 August 2018
    As indigenous peoples wait decades for land titles, companies are acquiring their territories
    Governments should recognize indigenous and community land rights, engage in better monitoring of company misconduct during land acquisitions, and ensure that businesses secure the free, prior and informed consent of the people who live on the land before they begin operations.
    • WRI
    • 17 July 2018
    Land speculation is leading to human rights violations and eco-destruction in Brazil
    A new report uncovers how international pension funds, foreign investments and institutions are tearing down any future for rural communities in Northeastern Brazil.
    • FIAN et al
    • 03 July 2018
    Risky business: Tenure issues main deterrent for investment
    At the Global Landscapes Forum Investment Case Symposium land tenure was the primary issue that was repeatedly pointed to by members of the research, development and finance communities alike as the biggest risk for landscape investment.
    • CIFOR
    • 20 June 2018
    Mozambique won’t be Mato Grosso
    A popular movement centred on a small farming village in northern Mozambique has, for the moment, halted an attempt to move to cash-crop monocultures mainly for export.
    • Monde Diplomatique
    • 11 June 2018
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